Rp 83 billion of State Funds Saved
Tuesday, 25 March, 2008 | 15:36 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Widodo AS said illegal logging eradication in 2007 has saved Rp 83 billion of state funds. “It has been saved through auction,” he said at a meeting with DPR’s Defense Commission yesterday.

In 2007, there was 1,749 cases with 1,717 suspects questioned by the police . 1,260 cases have been finished with evidence consisting of of 503,471 cubic meters of wood and 405,828 logs.

The Indonesian government has also saved 22,124 logs in January 2008 in the regency of Kapuas Hulu and Sintang in West Kalimantan. Some of the wood, Widodo said, is in the auction process.

According to Widodo, the amount of funds that can be saved from illegal logging in 2007 is less than previous years. In 2006, the government saved Rp 209.7 billion.

The number of criminal actions for illegal logging in 2006 was 3,711 cases with 5,217 suspects. “Over 2,400 cases have been finished,” he said.

It is hard to eradicate illegal logging, Widodo said, due to the unbalanced ratio between the wide area it encompasses and human resources. Tropical forests in Indonesia are around 120.35 million hectares with thousands of potential smuggling spots. “The state has a big potential for financial loss,” Widodo said.

DWI RIYANTO